There are many inventive products in the market attempting to solve the problem of a blind spot of the flat rearview exterior mirror of motor vehicles. There are currently two groups of rearview mirrors for motor vehicles. One is the spherical, arc curve mirror or combination mirror. This group of mirrors only deals with blind spots with distortion and does not include signal lights. The second group is the rearview mirrors that incorporate a signal light. These mirrors are conventional flat mirrors which do not cover the blind spot. The present invention covers two aspects; one is to provide a wide range rearview mirror to cover the blind spot and another is to provide signal and safety light system to the rearview mirror as a complete system for safety driving.
Round shape spherical mirrors and arc curve mirrors of different sizes are available. They serve the purpose of covering the blind spot with the effect of creating significant distortion of the image.
Presently, there is a design of rearview mirrors with the bend curve gradually extended to both sides of the edges of the rearview mirror. The curvature point of this arc curve convex reflective mirror is at the center. This was disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,934, an arc curve rearview mirror, which has been installed at the right side of the new vehicles. Though it covers the blind spot, the side effect is that considerable distortion occurs and the manufacturer must warn the drivers concerning the distortion effects. U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,377B to Min-Hwa Chou discloses that an external wide-angle rearview mirror integrated with a main zone approximately 30% surface with a predetermined curvature extends gradually to the upper and lower edge. It can be observed that the curvature portion is about 70% of the designed mirror. This is a slight improvement over the arc curve mirror. U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,7055 to Chiging Li reveals that this rearview mirror has a convex reflecting surface with distortion.
There are many other convex and spherical mirrors installed on motor vehicles. The reflective areas of these mirrors are more extensive than a conventional flat mirror. The additional view gained through the convex and spherical reflective surface causes distortion in size and distance. There are other rearview mirrors with combination of a curvature mirror at the edge to cover the blind spot. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,382 by Graff. This rearview mirror is a combination of a curvature reflective convex surface mirror of ⅖ (40%) in length with bending curve of 10° as a composite to a main convex reflective mirror of ⅗ (60%) in length. Another is the invention of Kanazawa's U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,367. This rearview mirror is a multifunctional rearview mirror having a wide visibility and an anti-glare function. The composition of this rearview mirror is a curvature mirror with the width of ⅓ length (33%) of the rearview mirror joined as a composite to the planar reflective mirror of ⅔ (67%) in length. The curvature mirror and the main planar reflective mirrors are convex surfaced. There are many other convex curvature mirrors and main planar convex reflective mirrors such as Joe's U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,556 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,542 to Kendo et al. Though an increased view can be gained by the convex surface, this causes significant distortion.
There are a few related inventions with signal indicators mounted onto the rearview mirror or with signal indicators under the mirror surface operating through electrical heating system. The Patent Application Publication, US 2001/0046136A1 on Nov. 29, 2001 revealed a strap shape of module of signal light in crystal white which is mounted onto the front cover of a rearview mirror. The flashing of the signal is through the LED assembly and it can be observed from the front and side but not the rear. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,485B provides a heater system for a diffused lighted signal to the mirror assembly. This light diffusing signal can only be seen by the vehicles at the rear and not the vehicles in front. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,208 B2 to Patrick et al provides an exterior mirror system incorporated with a signal light and a flood light inside the exterior rearview mirror. The signal light is within the view of the driver.
There are still other rearview mirrors with signal lights for vehicles. One is the U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,153 granted to Zimmerman et al on Aug. 8, 2004 revealing a strap shape of signal light outlet opening at the front cover similar to U.S. Patent Application US 2001/0046136 A1. Another related invention is U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,465 B2 granted to Apfebeck on Feb. 24, 2004. And yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,325 B2 granted to Bukosky et al on Jun. 15, 2004 has its signal light seen by the driver similar to an earlier patent. This invention of a signal assembly includes a plurality of light emitting diodes in the mirror surface for flashing of signals. This is quite similar to the earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,485 B, except it covers three directions and the signal light is electromagnetic radiation.
At present, existing rearview mirrors for the left side of a vehicle are flat mirrors with a blind spot. The driver may not be able to see vehicles in the blind spot and accidents can occur if the driver is not careful. Existing rearview mirrors for the right side of a vehicle are commonly curved in an arc, which distorts the image in size and perceived distance. Tragedy could occur if the driver is not alert. The present invention is intended to remedy the above and other perceived deficiencies in the prior art.